School - Scotch Plains School (School No. 1) , Scotch Plains
c. 1875

McKim, Mead, and White

McKim, Mead, and White was an American architectural firm that was established in September 1879 by Charles Follen McKim, William Rutherford Mead, and Stanford White. Between 1879 and 1912, McKim, Mead, and White became the largest architecture firm in America and the model for modern architectural practice. During its first thirty years the firm received and completed close to one thousand commissions, trained the next generation of American architects, and created standards of conduct for professional practice in the country.(1)

McKim, Mead, and White executed designs for a variety of projects including private urban and country houses, public buildings, churches, libraries, and schools. Examples of important works by the firm include Columbia Universitys campus on Morningside Heights (1892-1893), Washington Square Arch in Manhattan (1895), Madison Square Garden (1887-1891, the second of four buildings), Boston Public Library (1887-1895), and New Yorks Pennsylvania Station (1902-1910, later demolished).(2) In 1902, they were commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt to make additions to the White House in Washington, D.C.(3) McKim, Mead, and White based their work on renewing past forms, establishing an architecture that restored the American style of the 17th and 18th centuries and European classicism from antiquity through the Renaissance to the 18th century. Their clients were wealthy, from high society, and included prominent financial figures and politicians.(4)

The firm has been associated with both the City Beautiful and Beaux Arts movements. The City Beautiful movement was a Progressive reform movement in North American architecture that flourished in the 1890s and early 1900s. It focused on beautification of poverty stricken urban environments to restore social order in the lives of the inner city poor. The Beaux Arts movement was an architectural style popular in the early 20th century with an emphasis on detailed plans and drawings without site considerations. (5) McKim, Mead, and White are also considered the leaders in the use of Renaissance Revival, as well as the American Renaissance Movement.

(1) McKim, Mead, and White in Buffalo, Buffalo as an Architectural Museum web site (see link below).

(2) Richards, J.M., ed., McKim, Mead, and White, Whos Who in Architecture from 1400-present. (Holt, Rinehart, Winston: New York, 1977).

(3) McKim, Encyclopedia of Modern Architecture. (Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers: New York, 1964).

(4) McKim, Mead, and White, Artnet.com: Resource Library web site (see link below).

(5) McKim, Mead, and White, Wikipedia web site (see link below).

The Scotch Plains School (Public School No. 1) is an example of McKim, Mead, and Whites Renaissance Revival style. The style is based on the architecture of 16th century Italy and France with elements taken from Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The Renaissance Revival style was popular during two phases; the first phase was from 1840 to 1885 and the second from 1890 to 1915. Features of this style include smooth stone walls, low-pitched tile roofs, horizontal stone banding between floors, centrally located doors, ornately carved stone window trims with a different design at each story, and smaller square windows on top floors. The second phase included arched, recessed openings, columns, balconies, and ground floors of rusticated stone, beveled edges, and deeply recessed joints.(1)

According to the National Register of Historic Places the schools period of architectural significance was from 1875-1899.(2) The school, now vacant, is owned by the local government. It was added to the National Register in 1978.

(1) Renaissance Revival, House Styles Guide web site (http://www.house-styles-guide.com/renaissance-revival.html).

(2) Scotch Plains School, National Register of Historic Places web site (http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NJ/Union/state.html).